it was confirmed that Marcia was an impostor, Frank wouldn’t just cut her off for good; he’d make sure everyst score from the past was settled, one by one.
Just thinking about the real little Nine–who knew where she was, or how hard her life had been all these years–made Frank want to strangle
Marcia with his bare hands.
But, in some ways, he med himself too. Back then, he’d been desperate to find little Nine. The moment he saw that jade pendant hanging around Marcia’s neck, he let his guard down and failed to look deeper.
Elissa squeezed her palms together. Without Marcia around, she realized she hardly had any reason left to keep up their cold war.
Still, the nagging doubt in her heart lingered. She nced at Frank and took the chance to ask, “Why was Marcia so terrified you’d find out the jade pendant wasn’t hers?”
Frank fell silent.
+
He wasn’t sure how to exin it to Elissa. There was already a distance between them, and if he told her he’d been searching for another girl all these years, things between them would only unravel further.
Sometimes Frank didn’t know what was wrong with him. His heart was always tied to little Nine, yet he couldn’t ept what Elissa had once. said–that they should just go their separate ways.
Just picturing her standing beside another man made his chest tighten. until it was hard to breathe.
He looked at the young woman in front of him, her features clean and honest. For his own selfish reasons, he brushed her question aside. “Maybe she was just afraid I’d me her for something.”
“That’s it?” Elissa clearly didn’t buy it.
Last time, Marcia had been cruel enough to push her own son down the stairs just to frame Elissa. Now, was she really supposed to believe Marcia was scared of being scolded over a pendant? Frank had always defended Marcia, no matter what.
“Yeah, that’s all,” Frank insisted, nodding. Then he remembered the matter at hand. “Come on, let me help you move back.”
Only if she returned would he feel any sense of peace.
“Frank-”
With their divorce papers already signed, Elissa wouldn’t have moved. back in with him even if they hadn’t been. “I’m noting back-”
She didn’t get to finish. Frank’s phone suddenly buzzed, and he pulled it out, ncing at the screen before stepping aside to answer.
“Yeah?”
“Mr. Atwater.” Bernard’s voice got straight to the point. “I’ve tracked down the director from the orphanage back in the day. ording to her, Ms. Carson’s father wasn’t a police officer. He was a gambler. After a night of drinking, he killed her mother in a drunken rage and was sent to prison. That’s how she ended up at the orphanage.”
“So, Ms. Carson definitely lied to you.”
Before Bernard had even finished, Frank’s expression had already. darkened. His grip on the phone tightened so hard his knuckles turned white, as if he might crush it.
He remembered the first time he’d met Marcia, the instant he’d spotted the jade pendant. He’d rushed over, asking her if she remembered him, if she remembered saving him and his family all those years ago.
She’d looked confused at first, but quickly nodded.
Now, looking back…/
The warning signs were there from the beginning.
<b>09:18 </b>
He’d thought she was just caught off guard. But now it was obvious–she had no idea what he was talking about.
He’d believed her, just because of that pendant.
Frank’s eyes narrowed, his lips curling into a cold, hard line. “Alright. Get. back to Vistapeak City as soon as you can.”
Elissa was standing too far away to hear his conversation, but for the first time, she saw a ruthless edge in Frank’s eyes that sent a chill down her spine.
She didn’t know what had happened, but she was sure it had something to do with Marcia.
Only Marcia could make Frank’s emotions swing so wildly.
He hung up and strode briskly back toward her. “Something came up. It need to handle it right away.”
“Alright,” Elissa replied, as calm as ever.
<b>? </b>
09:18 T